Alfred Kubin - Black Mass - 1905


When I read the biographies of some people, I see a whole age passing before me. Austrian artist Alfred Kubin's life (1877-1959) is the story of Europe's dark side in the era of Bram Stoker, Edvard Munch, and Sigmund Freud, when Symbolists and Expressionists competed to produce the most shocking depictions of violent sexuality, social satire, and mental torment. To this generation the subconcious was the supreme reality. The proper society of bourgeois Europe, where elegantly dressed people attended tea parties and dinners, did their jobs, and kept up appearances, was just a barely maintained facade over a roiling world of dreams, symbols, and bloody myths, from which terrifying images and feelings were always threatening to break forth into the light of day. They considered themselves explorers and unmaskers, who would discover and expose the deeper nature of humanity. It was, I think, an inevitable reaction to the prim high-mindedness of the Victorians - BENSOZIA


Size: 3342px × 2183px
Photo credit: © steeve-x-art / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: alamy, alfred, anti-war, art, artist, arts, artwork, austria, austrian, black, bohemian, collection, collections, colour, creative, cultural, culture, enhanced, exhibition, expressionism, expressionist, gallery, heritage, historic, historical, illustration, image, images, isidor, kubin, leopold, lives, macabre, mass, picture, pictures, portrayal, poster, posters, print, prints, retro, sword, symbolism, symbolist, vintage, work